Sir Ridley Scott versus the historians is becoming something of an annual battle. Last year, it was Napoleon experts who got irate at the film-maker’s biopic of the French emperor. Now, as Gladiator II opens, some classicists are getting their togas in a twist.
However, in the face of anachronistic Roman newspapers and erroneous rhinos and sharks in the Colosseum, some historians are giving Scott the thumbs up — including one who raised the hatchet after the director’s previous crimes against history.
Dan Snow, the historian and broadcaster, found himself in Scott’s crosshairs last year when he objected to inaccuracies in Napoleon the director told him to “get a life”. This time, although some historians are Vesuvian in their fury, Snow is willing to let